His warning was contained in a July 7 statement he sent to The Monitor titled "The US Is Fuelling War and Instability In Uganda".
Some how I missed reading this Besigye article. Can somebody repost the article on Ugandanet or UPC net. Or send me artcile to my Private e-mail address.
Matek
The Monitor (Kampala)
July 13, 2003
Posted to the web July 13, 2003
David Kibirige
Kampala
The Reform Agenda leader Dr Kizza Besigye has warned of more rebels even if Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army insurgence was defeated.
"Like I have pointed out before, even if the LRA rebellion is suppressed, more rebellions will emerge and instability will continue until the underlying political questions have been appropriately resolved," Besigye said.
His warning was contained in a July 7 statement he sent to The Monitor titled "The US Is Fuelling War and Instability In Uganda".
Besigye, a retired colonel, lost the March 2001 presidential elections which were marred by violence and rigging. He fled to exile in August 2001, citing persecution by State functionaries.
In his statement, Besigye accused US government of financing the Ugandan military to encourage more armed conflicts.
"The regime of President Museveni can no longer be trusted to guide the country to a peaceful transition to democratic governance. The proposed amendments to the constitution, intended to set the stage for a formal dictatorship and life presidency in Uganda, will extinguish the last hope for a peaceful transition," he said.
He said this will lead to an escalation of violence and conflict.
Besigye said Museveni convinced the western governments that since Sudan had ceased support for the LRA and was actively co-operating with him, the Operation Iron Fist would take a short time.
He observed however that instead civilian abductions and violence by both rebels and government soldiers have increased.
"The US and Germany governments made announcements of financial grants for the Ugandan military, in effect directly encouraging President Museveni's military adventures and undermining peaceful means of resolving conflicts. The US has been giving support to the Ugandan military ostensibly aimed at checking the spread of terrorism from the Sudan," said Besigye.
He also said that exiled colonels, Anthony Kyakabale and Samson Mande and his former political assistant James Opoka were used as scapegoats for Uganda to send troops to eastern DR Congo.
He cautioned President Bush to go slow on his relationship with Museveni.
